


Only Human

by SoldierOfMyShadowyMind



Series: I Won't Fall When You're Shook [1]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Codependency, Eddie is lonely, Eddie needs a hug, Fluff, Humor, Jealousy, Other, Possessive Venom, Some angst, This is disgustingly sweet, Touch-Starved, Venom takes care of Eddie, Venom thinks chocolate is the cure to everything, also Venom watches cheesy rom-coms because apparently that’s what your average symbiote does, protective Venom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-17
Updated: 2018-10-17
Packaged: 2019-08-03 08:13:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16322522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind/pseuds/SoldierOfMyShadowyMind
Summary: You are sad. This is making you sad.“No, not sad. I’m not that pathetic” Eddie protests, willing down the tentative thread of longing that’s unfurling inside him. “This sort of public display of affection annoys me. They don’t have to rub it in your face like that.” The last part he didn’t mean to say out loud and he bites his lip hard.There’s a silence in his head and it feels suspiciously like revelation.You’re lonely.(Or: Eddie needs a hug and Venom learns about human touch.)





	Only Human

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve seen the movie twice now and I absolutely love it! (Sure, there are things that weren’t so great but shhhh). Just to say, I haven’t read any of the comics so my understanding of Venom is very minimal and entirely based on the movie.
> 
> How did this get so sappy?
> 
> Edit: [ShaakTisTardis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaakTisTardis/) drew [a beautiful piece](https://shaaktistardis.tumblr.com/post/181308604380/a-quick-ink-scribble-for-the-delightful-fic-only/) for this fic! It is gorgeous, huge thanks to you!

Usually Eddie is too preoccupied with his job to ponder any other social interaction other than getting on people’s nerves and pissing them off. Ultimately, he’s glad the Network offered to revive the show. He’d thought of refusing but with all the perks it brings, cohabitating with an alien does not magically pay the bills.

When he does have some idle time he gets bored quickly mulling the thought over in his head. No, wrong. When he has time to let his thoughts wander more or less undisturbed, he has too much time to lie to himself. Eddie’s a people person by nature, he likes being around people, he strives off it. Although he didn’t have all that many true _friends_ to speak of before… well, before Venom (people kept calling him a nuisance and Eddie supposes that’s about right), he feels even more alone now. It’s been six months and he’s settled into what he calls his life these days – halfway at least, enough to make it work from day to day – but he still misses Anne. There’s a tiny part of him that’s still angry at her for leaving although he doesn’t blame her. He’s been a colossal asshole and it probably served him right. But Anne left a space somewhere deep inside him that’s hard to cover. It’s a feeling of hollowness that even Venom can’t fill.

Almost like an answer, the symbiote ripples through him, crawling under his skin to settle deeper against him. Eddie has been getting better at pinpointing Venom’s location and right now he’s stretching out, leaving his preferred spot somewhere at the back of Eddie’s skull to curl around his insides.

It feels oddly reminiscent of an embrace. It’s still not what Eddie needs.

**_Whatever you need, we can give to you, Eddie._ **

Yeah, right. These days he has a chatty alien in his head and any and all shred of privacy flies right out the window.

“I know, buddy” Eddie says. He can’t lie to Venom, he’s figured that one out early on. But he can keep certain things to himself, emotions he doesn’t allow to form fully, thoughts he pushes to the back of his mind before he can think them. As impulsive a nature as he has, Eddie can be prone to brooding sometimes and trying to explain his worries to his companion is a situation he’d rather avoid as long as possible.

 ** _Do not hide from me, Eddie._** It’s half purr, half angry command and an accompanying shudder runs down Eddie’s spine that he knows is all his own.

“You know I’m not” he appeases because it’s true. He accepted Venom and all the consequences their shared existence bears and he’s getting a hang of what this life is like. Eddie would go so far as to say he enjoys being bonded. ( _Eating_ as far as the definition goes in Venom’s dictionary is still one of Eddie’s least favourite activities. He indulges the symbiote nevertheless, knowing it temporarily soothes the incessant demand for **_food_** and makes Venom a little sluggish and satisfied. That’s one of the good things: Whatever makes Venom happy, makes Eddie happy and the feeling of compounded happiness and content is something Eddie not so secretly basks in.)

Still. “I’m just…” _Still getting used to it._ Venom can waffle all he wants about their perfect bond – Eddie usually tunes him out when he gets philosophical – but _perfect_ doesn’t mean _flawless_ and Eddie is still only human.

**_You are being unreasonable, Eddie. There is no higher state of connection._ **

Eddie sighs. “It’s not that I’m not satisfied with what we have.” Jesus Christ, he sounds like someone trying to figure out how to break up with his significant other.

**_Then why do you keep moping?_ **

“Not helping, Vee” Eddie grumbles gloomily. Venom, just like himself, is still learning, and the finer nuances of human interaction have escaped him so far.

**_I can sense your emotions. It is far more effective and intimate than having to read your facial features or the tone of your voice._ **

“If you say so” Eddie mutters. He pointedly ignores Venom’s choice of words. _Intimate_ bears too many meanings, too many impossible possibilities than he feels comfortable to consider. “You’re not very good at _expression_ , though” is what he voices, still preferring to pronounce the words and hear himself speak rather than talking to Venom in his head. It gets too silent otherwise. And isn’t that a weird thought.

Venom rumbles through him, a quick flash of annoyance lighting up Eddie’s nerves. The symbiote doesn’t like to be told off or corrected. Eddie always finds it fun to watch – to _experience_? – up until the point where Venom makes his obvious discontent known and leaves Eddie feeling grumpy with an irritation that’s not his own.

Right now, Eddie doesn’t draw any kind of amusement from their particular brand of banter, and so, because he’s feeling shitty and wallowing in self-pity, he grouses, “Oh, fuck off.”

Venom hisses back at him, an unpleasant sound that makes Eddie’s ears crawl if that’s even possible.

**_Will insulting me help you to get your shit together?_ **

“This has nothing to do with _getting my shit together_ ” Eddie says, a little indignant.

Venom almost sounds, hell, _exasperated_ when he pipes up again. **_Then what is it about?_**

“I don’t fucking know, okay?” It’s just shy of a shout. Eddie grits his teeth; the walls of his shabby apartment are paper-thin, he doesn’t need any more concerned or creeped out looks thrown his direction. “You know what, if I knew I’d tell you. But until then, it’d be really fucking fantastic if you could just shut up.” He lets that sit for a moment, then adds, “Bratty alien.”

 ** _I’m not a—_** Venom trails off and Eddie feels a pleased sort of surprise shudder through his bones.

“That’s right” he says and he’d sound smug but he’s just too exhausted today. “I didn’t call you a parasite.”

 ** _Now you did._** Venom prods at his insides in the general vicinity of his stomach, then huffs. **_Two can play at that game. Shithead._**

Eddie sinks deeper into the couch, wishing he could just bury himself in the cushions the way Venom melts into his skin. He’s too tired to give a proper retort and that’s saying something. He ponders doing some research for his next report but he can’t seem to move his limbs and he knows that’s not Venom’s doing. Nothing seems particularly appealing right now, so Eddie just drapes an arm over his eyes and hopes the strange restlessness he’s feeling will fade into sleep. He would have a drink or three but he’s not keen on spending the rest of the day with his head over the toilet bowl. It’s nice that Venom keeps him healthy and all but there are times when Eddie would really, really appreciate a drink.

Eddie feels a heavy weight settle around his stomach and when Venom begins to tug at his arms and legs when Eddie ignores him, he indulges himself in an excessive eye-roll. “You’re not seriously thinking I’m going to reward you for your rude behaviour.”

**_Now_ you _are being rude. We are hungry._**

“ _We_ need a timeout. I need to clear my head.”

Venom reacts with another hiss, offended. He rushes through Eddie’s veins, hovering near the back of his neck, a persistent tremor as he rumbles, **_Do you not want us?_**

Eddie groans. “Venom, Jesus, we’re not having this conversation _again_.” He rakes a hand down his face but Venom commandeers it, ripping it away and for a second Eddie thinks he’s going to be slapped across the face with his own hand.

 _Their_ hand, he reminds himself.

He regards the uncontrollable limb through his peripherals but eventually, Venom lets him go and Eddie’s arm drops loosely to his side.

**_You are unhappy, Eddie. I do not like it when you’re unhappy._ **

“Yeah, that feeling’s mutual” Eddie mumbles but he can’t think of anything else to say. He wishes Venom would materialise, slink out of his skin and morph into the black, wafting head growing out of Eddie’s shoulder that Eddie has become so weirdly fond of. It wouldn’t really help to look into those sharp white eyes – the ever-present toothy grin doesn’t offer much variety where expressions are concerned – but at least he’d feel a little less insane, talking to something – _someone_ – visible. Huh. Put that one down as another check off the list that says he probably already has gone mad.

Eddie drags himself into a sitting position. “I just need to be alone for a while, okay?” he tries, aiming for placating but ending up somewhere between way too gentle and unsure.

**_There is no_ alone _, Eddie. Never alone anymore._**

Which is precisely the problem right now. “I need to be in my own head, okay” Eddie tries to explain, “without you booming at me to feed you— us.” He needs to be alone in order to _get out_ of his own head, to sort his thoughts that are running wild with something he doesn’t quite understand, a feeling he can’t put a finger on. There’s an emptiness inside him when really, it should be everything but.

**_As you wish._ **

He bristles involuntarily when Venom pours out of him, black ink covering his skin and then slinking away, dripping down his wrists and onto the couch. The puddle of black skulks across the floor towards the kitchen and Eddie knows Venom’s pouting. It really shouldn’t be adorable.

Even without Venom underneath his skin Eddie still doesn’t feel any different, if anything he feels even more restless, a constant worry at the back of his mind when Venom’s not with him. Damn it all to hell, if someone had told him six months ago he’d come to _care_ for the freaky, scary alien life form that violently took possession of his body he probably would have knocked them on the head and punched sense into them. It’s not that he regrets it. No, not one of his – admittedly most likely alarming, irresponsible, and definitely unconventional – life choices. He happens to be inexplicably fond of the pile of inky alien substance that’s currently moping in his kitchen. It’s just that something’s still missing. Contact. _Touch_. Eddie hasn’t even dared to think of any other kind of relationship, knowing it would only drive Venom up the wall. Possessive asshole. But the touch of another human being is something he hasn’t felt in months and he misses it. He’s tired enough to admit that to himself. Eddie’s always been a physical kind of person, he likes touching and being touched. Now, whenever someone or something gets too close to him, his symbiote jerks him away. Eddie knows Venom’s just being protective and it’s sweet, in a way. But Eddie’s still stitching up the hole that Annie left and sometimes he feels like just an arm around his shoulders would do.

Not that he can get Venom to comprehend that.

It doesn’t help that some days he can’t tell where he ends and Venom begins and maybe that’s secondary, maybe that’s unimportant but it’s still something Eddie has to wrap his head around, and fuck, he’s committed himself to this, to Venom, long ago but that doesn’t mean it’s not complicated.

Eddie sighs for the hundredth time that day and heaves himself off the couch. “Vee?” he calls. “Stop sulking.”

He gets no response, his mind studiously blank and quiet. Eddie rolls his eyes and shuffles into the kitchen where he finds Venom loitering on top of the fridge. At the sight of the sad blob of black goo Eddie feels sympathetic and a little guilty for pushing him away.

“Okay, let’s see.” He opens the fridge and peeks inside. Its contents are, mildly put, pathetic but Venom’s culinary preferences are not exactly that of a gourmet. Not that Eddie has ever cared much about food. As long as it came with a decent taste and a reasonable price, he was fine.

He fishes out the leftovers from yesterday’s takeout. And promptly laughs at himself. He isn’t used to _having_ leftovers at all anymore. Nonetheless, he holds them out in offering.

A wave of shivers vibrates through blob on his fridge. **_NO_** Venom honest-to-God _whines_.

“I know it’s dead, and it’s a day old but can’t you live with it for now?”

 ** _Meat._** Venom demands.

“Shocking.” Eddie huffs and puts the takeout box back into the fridge. They’ll probably eat it later, anyway.

With a sigh he reaches out a hand towards Venom but the symbiote stays still, hesitating.

“Come on” Eddie coaxes, holding out his hand. “We’ll go out for a run and on the way back we’ll find you a proper meal.”

A small black tendril extends towards his hand but stops, hovering, almost cautious. It’s unfairly endearing.

Eddie’s features soften. He knows Venom’s just playing with him. He knows Venom will be insufferably smug later on. But somehow the pouty tour gets him every time. “I do want you, you know that.” And it feels right when he adds, a heartbeat later, “I want us.”

Venom flops down from the refrigerator and leaks onto Eddie’s hand, crawls up his arm and then disperses under his skin, wrapping around his shoulders before settling in his favourite spot. Eddie rubs the back of his neck affectionately. He always feels better when they’re together. Less anxious.

 ** _No cats._** Something akin to relief and contentment echoes through Eddie’s mind.

He smiles. “Someone’s always getting mugged in this city.”

 

Half an hour later they’re running through the streets at an almost leisurely pace and for the first time in days Eddie feels like he can breathe freely again. Reaching the outskirts of a small park he breaks into a sprint, burning the rest of the itchy, nervous energy in his veins. Venom seems to enjoy the rush of wind against their skin, sending pleasant, gentle ripples through their body. No wonder he likes perching atop disconcertingly high buildings.

A nearby park bench offers the perfect opportunity for Eddie to catch his breath and he puts one foot up on the weather-beaten, splintery wood and stretches his legs. He’s content in his own space of his mind when he hears laughter off to his left and, his inbred curiosity getting the better of him, he turns to see.

Only to immediately regret it.

There’s a couple walking along the gravel path, holding hands. She is laughing freely, a ringing sound that’s hard to hate but Eddie detests it, anyway. He frowns. The woman’s boyfriend stops her to point at something and when she follows his outstretched arm to something that clearly isn’t there he wraps his arms around her from behind, gathering her close even as she half-heartedly protests, laughing and swatting at his arms.

Eddie’s scowl grows darker and he turns away. Too late, of course, Venom has already noticed his discomfort.

**_You are sad. This is making you sad._ **

“No, not sad. I’m not that pathetic” Eddie protests, willing down the tentative thread of longing that’s unfurling inside him. “This sort of public display of affection annoys me. They don’t have to rub it in your face like that.” The last part he didn’t mean to say out loud and he bites his lip hard.

There’s a silence in his head and it feels suspiciously like revelation. **_You’re lonely._**

“I’m not—” Eddie starts but cuts himself off. What’s the point, denial has never gotten him anywhere.

 ** _There’s no need to be lonely, Eddie. You have me._** If he didn’t know better Eddie would say Venom almost sounds hurt.

Taking a deep breath, he tries to explain. This is easily one of the most awkward moments in his life, explaining his sudden, overwhelming craving for touch to his symbiote. Right up there with Anne describing to him how he sat in a restaurant’s fish tank, happily munching away at a lobster.

“Look” he begins, fumbling for words. “It’s not that I want anyone else in my life—”

**_Good._ **

“…You wouldn’t let me, anyway.”

**_Correct. You are mine. You belong to me. To us._ **

“Yes, but see, it’s just, it’s…” Eddie swallows around the lump in his throat. He isn’t used to feeling embarrassed and this is taking it to a whole new level. “It’s a human thing, something that we do.”

Venom hums curiously, still nestled at the back of his skull, stretching out under the skin of his back, absorbing the warmth of the afternoon sunlight. The secondhand satisfaction calms Eddie a bit.

“We… we touch, we hug. Comfort each other.” The stiltedness of his own words makes him cringe.

**_You seek comfort?_ **

“No, I mean, not exactly.” Eddie lets out a breath. This is even harder than he thought.

A sudden touch at his abdomen makes him flinch and he barely manages to suppress the surprised shriek. A tendril curls around his ribs underneath his sweaty t-shirt, not shy at all, bold but not teasing. _Tender_ , Eddie’s shocked mind supplies. Venom hums in the back of his head and it’s then that Eddie regains his sense of reality. Somewhat covertly he swats at his shirt.

“What are you doing?!” he hisses.

Venom sounds… not smug but sure, as if he’s benevolently chiding Eddie. **_There is nothing I can’t give you. All you had to do was ask._**

Eddie thinks he hears affection in those words and he doesn’t want to dwell on what _that_ does to him. Before he can gather enough words to form a coherent answer, Venom whips their head around, forcing Eddie to look at the couple.

 ** _Not good enough for you._** It sounds oddly caring and just the slightest bit jealous and Eddie chokes on thin air.

Then, without waiting for affirmation, Venom takes them home.

He makes Eddie take of his running shoes and drink a bottle of water – Eddie rolls his eyes, fondly exasperated – then takes of his shirt for him and drops it to the floor, ignoring Eddie’s protests. Next comes a shower and before he knows it, Eddie’s wearing his favourite hoodie and being carefully deposited on his bed. He goes along with it because what else can he do? When he’s comfortable, Venom relinquishes control of their body but he doesn’t give Eddie so much as a second to wonder what on earth is going on as he bleeds out of him, little inky tendrils pouring out from under the sleeves of his hoodie, curling around his wrists. Eddie watches in fascination as Venom caresses the soft skin, tendrils sneaking through the spaces between his fingers to form a hand and Eddie lets out a pathetic half laugh, half sob as he closes his fingers around Venom’s, holding onto him. Black encases his arm as it slinks upwards towards his neck and curls around his shoulders, the tendril coming to rest on Eddie’s chest as it presses down lightly. At Eddie’s answering sigh the touch tightens, growing more possessive. Eddie leans into it, closing his eyes.

**_I will never hurt you, Eddie._ **

Not physically, not emotionally. Eddie understands now.

Two tendrils wrap around his chest like arms, squeezing tightly even as they explore his bare skin beneath the cosy worn-out fabric. Eddie leans back a little further and Venom catches him, holds him upright with the strength of his embrace.

**_Never alone, never lonely._ **

Eddie nods, feeling all the tension of the last couple of days, weeks, months bleed out of him and he feels so simply and utterly _good._ The waves of happiness he sends come back, multiplied, and he basks in it, thinking it must be the best hug of his whole tragic life. He laughs at himself at how weak and needy he sounds in his own mind but the rush of affection that overtakes him erases all doubt from his mind.

**_Eddie, Eddie, Eddie._ **

The pleased, somewhat childish repetition of his name makes him chuckle. “Yes, buddy?” he asks. The answer he gets doesn’t surprise him at all.

**_You are mine. There is no need to want anything else. It’s all right here. I am yours and you are mine. Mine._ **

“You’re right.” Eddie smiles. “Yeah, okay, I get it.”

Without warning, Venom manifests and a thick black arm shoots out of Eddie’s shoulder, white eyes focusing on him, sharp-toothed grin in place.

“Hello, sunshine.”

 ** _“MINE.”_** Venom rumbles and Eddie can’t help it, he grins broadly.

“Yes, I’m yours, you possessive bastard.”

Venom drags the tip of his tongue over Eddie’s cheek, drooling all over his skin and the shoulder of his hoodie.

“Gross” Eddie complains and half-heartedly shoves at Venom’s head. Expectedly, the symbiote doesn’t budge but rather butts against the palm of Eddie’s hand and, at a loss for anything else to do, Eddie pets his head lovingly. Venom purrs contentedly, Eddie’s whole body reverberating with the feeling. He’s noticed this before but it only really registers now, Venom is strangely soft and silky to the touch, neither warm nor cold but simply pleasant under Eddie’s fingertips. He runs a cautious finger along the rows upon rows of sharp teeth and if he had eyebrows, Venom would definitely lift them at him suspiciously right now, judging from the way he’s looking at Eddie.

Eddie withdraws his hand. “Sorry, I was just…” he scrambles hastily. _Exploring._ The tendril still wrapped around his shoulders suddenly tickles him behind the ear and Eddie jumps.

Venom grins wolfishly. **_“Sorry.”_**

Eddie rolls his eyes for good measure but he leans back into the embrace and lets himself be held. He might still be slowly going insane but right now, there is nothing more he could possibly need. He only vaguely registers the arm growing out of his side but that has long since lost its intimidating capacity. Something gets knocked over in the kitchen and the tendril returns, thrusting something into Eddie’s face.

“What the—” Eddie jerks away, frowning. “What is that?”

**_“Are you blind or just dumb? It’s chocolate.”_ **

“I can see that. What, you want me to eat that now?”

Venom gives an enthusiastic nod and with the hand that’s not still holding onto the ghostly shape – somewhat desperately and Eddie files that particular finding away for later consideration – Eddie plucks the chocolate bar from the hovering tendril. Venom’s head shifts closer to him, pushing against his jawbone.

“At least let me unwrap it first. Always so impatient” Eddie grumbles as he rips the wrapper off the bar.

Venom makes a tutting sort of sound. **_“Details”_** he hisses. **_“Go on, eat it.”_**

“You do realise that despite what they say in all those horrible, cheesy rom-coms that I know you watch while I’m sleeping, chocolate does not, in fact, represent a cure to everything?” His lop-sided grin gives him away, though. It’s nice, being taken care of like this.

Venom unleashes a growl that’s accompanied by a shudder that Eddie can feel all throughout his body. **_“You are being childish, Eddie. Consuming chocolate releases hormones—”_**

“Yeah, thanks, that’s enough” Eddie waves him off and takes a hearty bite out of the bar, suddenly feeling incredibly hungry.

Venom hums approvingly, waiting all of two seconds before his tongue snatches the remains of the chocolate bar from Eddie’s hand and the candy disappears into his huge mouth.

 ** _“Now rest”_** Venom commands.

“What, no skulking the streets for bad guys to bite heads off of?” Eddie retorts, amused.

**_“Rest now, food later.”_ **

Eddie thinks he should probably write that one down for future reference. He pretends he isn’t touched by the gesture.

Obligingly, he settles into bed, Venom still wrapped around him. He feels at ease, a quiet contentedness cursing through his body that welcomes sleep easily. Venom stays out of him, the embrace never loosening up even a little, tendrils still wrapped around his torso and his hand. Eddie distantly thinks that’s it’s not only his yearning for touch that brought this on but Venom’s own fear of losing him. They both know it’s irrelevant now.

Venom nuzzles into the crook of Eddie’s shoulder, the tender skin at his throat, stays there for a while. Then he floods back beneath Eddie’s skin, the tendrils around his chest bleeding out and retreating. Eddie feels him moving inside him, just below the surface, and he traces the path with his finger until Venom spreads out, flooding into every corner of Eddie’s, of their body. Eddie’s bones hum with it as Venom curls around his organs, wraps his insides up in himself, covering him like an invisible blanket. Being as close to him as possible. Eddie has never felt so warm.

It’s a kind of intimacy that’s impossibly close and infinite and it doesn’t frighten him at all.

 ** _My Eddie._** The echo in his head feels like a gentle caress.

Eddie smiles as he settles against the pillows, thinking that Venom gave _getting under his skin_ a whole new dimension. A lone tendril sneaks up his collarbone and out of his hoodie, trailing up his chin to gently press against the corner of Eddie’s mouth. It feels like a goodnight kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Please be kind! This is my first venture into this fantastic fandom and I have no idea what I'm doing.
> 
> Visit me on [tumblr](http://atravellingsoldierstaleofwinter.tumblr.com/)!


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